1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless devices, and more particularly relates to item location tracking using a wireless device.
2. Background of the Invention
Remaining in close proximity to moving items, such as children, is desirable for many reasons and in many situations. The definition of close proximity, however, varies with the particular surroundings. For instance, if a mother and her child are in the children's section at the local library, the distance a child can comfortably wander off is much greater than if the same mother and child are at a busy shopping mall. Also, the time of day might factor into how far a child can safely wander; a child playing in a park during the day is able to wander further than the same child in the same park at dusk.
Children aren't the only items that need to be tracked; pets, for instance, need to be monitored so they won't stray. Even adults often need to ensure that they stay in close proximity to another adult. For instance, adults hiking in the woods, riding bicycles, shopping in a mall, or any of a multitude of other situations, require attention to proximity of the other person. The maximum comfortable distance between adults, however, will most likely be much greater than that of an adult and child or adult and pet.
Additionally, people often have sets of objects that they need to have with them at different times during the day, such as keys, briefcases, PDAs, laptops, palmtops, messaging devices, and more. These items need to be monitored so as not to be unintentionally left behind. For example, when a person leaves home to go to work in the morning, the person may need keys to the house, keys to the office, keys to the car, a wallet or purse, and a variety of other items.
Further, some of these objects may be valuable. For example, a person may desire to take a laptop computer or a personal digital assistant (PDA) to work, to a library, or to some other location where the device might be put to use. In those locations, however, the person may leave the object for a few moments, for example, to look in the library stacks, leaving the object unguarded and vulnerable to being stolen. Clearly a need exists for tracking an item.
One solution to this problem is to attach a tracker tag to the item needing to be monitored and using a tracker to monitor the item. In this way, the item is coupled to the tracking unit. When the item travels beyond a specific distance, the tracker sounds an alert to notify the wearer that the item has traveled beyond a specified maximum distance.
The solution suffers from the disadvantage, however, that the range is static. Once the range is set as the desired distance, the range remains at that distance without regard to time, location, or any other factor. As discussed in the preceding paragraphs, the desired range for tracking an item varies with time, location, and other possible factors.
Accordingly, a need exists for a tracking system that provides automatic item coupling with the coupling range determined by context of the situation.